'Batman' interferes with cops' search

Oct. 4, 2012

Written by

Associated Press

PETOSKEY, MICH. — The search for a driver who fled an accident scene in northern Michigan over the weekend was apparently a job for a dog, not a bat.

State troopers arrested Mark Wayne Williams, 33, because they say he refused to leave them alone after he showed up Saturday night wearing a Batman outfit.

“He wouldn’t clear the scene, and we had a canine out there and he kept screwing up the scent,” State Police Sgt. Jeff Gorno told the Petoskey News-Review. “He said he wanted to help us look for the driver.”

“We didn’t want the dog to track Batman instead of the accident scene, and he was getting in the way of officers who had a job to do,” the sergeant said.

Williams wasn’t carrying any dangerous weapons, but his costume and gear were confiscated, Gorno said.